I had an instance where someone called me a "hate speech" word. I replied with one of my own and it was the only insult that I typed in the entire match. Meanwhile, they continually said the hate speech word and continually kept insulting me for the duration of the match. A 2nd person also jumped in and started using the hate speech word repeatedly and insulted me repeatedly for the entire duration of the match.
I got a 2-week ban as my first punishment ever on a 7 year old account. The primary instigator who committed the same offense and repeatedly used it while insulting me for the entire duration, did NOT get punished. Their account remained active. All of the proof is in my support tickets as well as other links that I provided where my 1 insult got a more severe punishment compared to another player in a different match who insulted their entire team constantly while using words like %%%%%% and %%%%%%.
Perhaps if the system was a bit more consistent or "just", the specialists who posted in this thread might have a decent point. But when events like mine happen so regularly, their points have no leg to stand on. The only message I get from this is that I can trust in the system being on my side as long as I am MORE toxic and as long as I am the primary instigator.
You don't need to look at my story that happened two years ago. Just check out a certain bait banning discord for more evidence ;-)